I could just shoot myself for messing with my money! Oh wait, I'm rich bitch!

With Lil Wayne putting off Rikers for a month to get his dents straight (did I hear correctly that he had 8 root canals done at once?), I thought I’d reflect on the state of the rap game.

I mean, seriously, Lil Wayne is just the latest in a string of rappers, who at the top of their game, get sent up to the big house to do a bid.

Without much thought, any one of us can reel off at least 3 or 4 artists who have been hit with jail time for one infraction or another.

But I decided to do an informal survey and DAMN! there are quite a few artists currently doing bids (or who’ve done bids in the recent past), to wit:

T.I. got a year and a day for a federal gun rap.

Gucci Mane got 12 months for violating the terms of his 2005 assault conviction for not completing community service, failing drug tests and not getting permission to travel.

Lil Wayne is set to do 8 months for a gun possession conviction.

Flesh-N-Bone received 12 years for a gun possession charge.

C-Murder got a life sentence for a second degree murder conviction. Life imitating art.

Prodigy of Mobb Deep got 3 1/2 years for criminal possession of a loaded gun.

Da Brat is doing 3 years for assaulting a waitress with a rum bottle. That was bratty.

DMX has been in and out of jail. Most recently, he did 90 days for felony misdemeanor charges.

Suge Knight has been in and out of jail over the past 15 years, including a recent incarceration for possession of marijuana.

Lil Kim infamously received a year for perjury.

Mystical was sentenced to 6 years for aggravated sexual assault.

Remy Ma got 8 years for shooting her girl in the gut.

Tru Life got a life sentence for murder. True Life. Get it?

Shyne got 10 years for a gun rap.

Beanie Sigel got a year and a day in 2004 for federal weapons charges, and a few months in 2008 for a parole violation.

Pimp C received 5 years for aggravated assault with a gun.

Royce Da 5’9″ got a year sentence in 2007 for a DUI conviction.

Foxy Brown did 8 months in 2007/08 for violating her probation following an assault conviction.

Turk from the Hot Boys got 12 years for his involvement in a shoot-em-up of a rival faction in Memphis.

Black Rob got 7 years for armed robbery. Black robbed.

The Game did 2 months for gun possession.

Keith Murray got 39 months for assault.

Styles P of the Lox received 8 months for a stabbing conviction.

Cassidy received an 11 1/2 year sentence for murder.

Tony Yayo of G-Unit fame received 1 year for a weapons charge.

2 Pac and ODB both did multiple stints in jail before their respective untimely demise.

I could go on an on with more obscure artists, but you get the picture.

Lil Wayne is not going to see any of the Live Nation money in jail, and the Cash Money/Young Money clique won’t have their golden boy headlining shows for the next 12 months (or 9 months with good behavior).

Gucci Mane can’t promote the album he just dropped from behind bars, and his sales will invariably suffer as a result.

10 responses to “Going to jail messes with your money.”

Fuck deez rap niggaz dey all go to jail for frail shit or by association bull shit. Only nigga I feel for is Max-B cuz his lawyer fucced him and that nigga was the truth. The rest of this shit can easily be avoided. Waynes Gun charge really? fucc u need a pistol for all that security u got too many times i done been chillin in the hood aint have no pistol. i still dont got one! for what i aint catchin no bodies. Gucci mane violating probation fool. DMX a crack head love his music but DAWGY a smoker. T.I is a damn cornball “I bout weapons to protect my family wtf??” nigga u live in a 5 million dollar mansion yo family protected frail ass nigga tryed to buy weapons from a nigga cooperatin wit the feds. most of these clowns buy they way out of real time and have a place to stay when they get out wit massive commissary wen they go in. KEEP YO CIRCLE small i mean if u that rich do u really have to fucc wit everybody! if u was a real dope dealer or hustler u all ways be spoken of but hardly seen. Deez niggaz got the game backwards. And they talk about 50 hidin in his 20 million dollar mansion like its sumptin wrong wit dat??? dat nigga smart he been in the pen as a broke nigga got out broke and realized wtf i need anybody for I GOT MONEY Fucc everybody IMma sit in my crib fucc bitches and enjoy life. If u go from a Have NOT nigga too A HAVE Got nigga Y fucc all dat up for anybody end up in jail over some frail shit and pay the city some bullshit Bail money to get out just to go back in after Trial? U RAP NIGGAZ ARE NOT GANGSTAS

UPDATE*
Tru is maintaining and gets mad respect from EVERYONE. To give you an idea of the corrupt Criminal Justice system, the District Attorney and the Judge know that he is innocent of the crimes he’s charged with, yet they still have not yet even given him bail.

I would argue that most of those artist had peaked or were only lukewarm commercially speaking. To counter your point Shyne just signed what is at least $1m deal with Def-Jam. He will likely never perform in the US again and will likely sell well enough to justify signing him again. Thats crazy IMO!

I see your point but most of those artist were limited in sales and shows going in, you were more likely to be limited coming out. I’d suggest Kim and Foxy were done prior to going in.

I will wholeheartedly agree that those top artist will lose some income during that time. However on the flip side the buzz of coming back home and the “Im Home” tour will get more fans, more dates, more money per event. So a temporary hit yes but long term for these guys will look pretty good.

To your point we have such a long way to go despite the ground traveled.

On a side note, I dig the blog… I stumbled onto it from my wife who attended Rutgers with you. Love the vibe and comedy of the posts brother.

Yes. Some artists I noted were well into the sunset of their careers when they caught their respective bids. But a few, namely Cassidy, Shyne, Yayo, Tru Life, TI, Gucci Mane and Lil Wayne were definitely in sunrise status.

But with the exception of Wayne, Shyne (and I’m going to grant you this one, but I think if we look at the time value of money, that $1M pales in comparison to what he would have made during the 10 years in), TI and Gucci Mane, I’d put money on the proposition that even with the spin value of ‘coming home’ any time away from the spotlight (in the highly competitive rap game) hurts your pockets.

I think we’re going to have to agree to disagree on the whole ‘how heavy are your pockets post bid’ debate.

And yes, we’ve got a long way to go.

Also thank you for the props! Keep reading, and I’ll try my best to keep it light hearted and funny (and occasionally deep and insightful).

I grew up listening to my famous cousin Grand Master Flash… I met the Sugar Hill Gang, KRS One, Afrika Bambaataa and Super Ryhmes when folks didnt recognize who they were. Nor did I fully get it until years later…

At 39 I am still a hip hop head much to my wifes dismay. Hip Hop has of course evolved and changed. Its used to be thug to wear a Shearling, Pin Stripe Lee’s and have break dance battles etc…

Now its I been shot, I did a bid, I beat a charge to be commercially viable. Lil Wayne is just an example of what a marketing/media blitz can do for an artist financially. I disagree with your thought that he wont make money from this. He already is, he toured like crazy… Wrote ew songs and recorded remixes, dropped his album and has a team of folks to twitter him etc…

T.I. told us what he was gonna do with his bid. He bought real estate, wrote more songs, recorded remixes, recorded diss records, got his baby mama a TV show and kept his name out there. His comeback will likely be a big one. The redeemed& renewed warrior?

This is sadly how money is made in Hip Hop nowadays, its sad and I miss H.E.R. I dont know when she will be back. I can only hope that artists like Common, Talib Kweli, Mod Def and this new kid Jay Electronica take it back to the lyrics and thats the real marketing. Rant off…

Rant on, my brother! However, I beg to differ. While going to jail may have benefit a few, the majority of artists who go to jail don’t see their bank accounts increase. Take Slick Rick, Shyne, Lil Kim, Foxy Brown, C-Murder, Keith Murray, to name but a few. These cats did bids and found the world wasn’t materially better than when they went in, at least not financially.

For those on the tippy-top, like TI and Wayne, with good lawyers and serious infrastructure around them, of course they can flip the situation to their benefit, but regardless, they’re not going to make any touring money in prison. And while they may get residual income from their activities immediately prior to going in, it won’t replace the lost income from being in.

What’s really sad is that regardless of how far we’ve come, we still have such a long way to go.